Researchers Jessica Smith and Rhiannon McGregor from the The Future Laboratory will explore the rise of “Algorithmic Beauty” — or the new ways that beauty, technology and medicine are set to converge – at this year’s Global Wellness Summit (GWS).

The Future Laboratory, with offices in London, Melbourne and New York, is a strategic forecasting firm that identifies the disruptive trends that will shape the future of consumer behavior and the lifestyle industries — with a focus on the beauty, wellness, fashion, food/drink, luxury, travel/hospitality and youth markets.

Smith (creative researcher) and McGregor (foresight writer) will share the firm’s new research on the biggest trends on the horizon for the US$1tr global beauty market.

While the attention has been on all-natural or “clean” beauty, Smith and McGregor argue that a competing trend is on the rise. As beauty technologies become far more popular, social media, artificial intelligence and algorithms are shaping a new ideal of flawlessness. This macro-trend, “Algorithmic Beauty”, means that beauty is no longer simply in the eye of the beholder, but in the eye of a machine learning algorithm instead — with beauty standards shifting from subjective to objective ideals.

Smith and McGregor will analyse the diverse aspects and opportunities within the Algorithmic Beauty trend: from how facial recognition technology will change the face of beauty to the rise of artificial-intelligence-driven devices that can assess our faces and create a personalised feedback loop between products and a person’s skin, to how the next generation of non-invasive procedures will be rooted in nanotechnology, to a simultaneous backlash against “objective beauty” mounting in some corners.

“The Future Laboratory, with its international team of analysts, is one of the most provocative and prescient trends forecasters, helping the world’s top brands — whether in beauty, wellness or travel — really visualize the macro- and micro-trends that are likely to shake up their businesses,” said Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO. “We’re excited that Jessica and Rhiannon will share their new insights on the high-tech future of beauty with our delegates and build on the fast-evolving conversation about beauty and wellness that is always a cornerstone of the Summit.”